


The Closest I've Got to Home is You

by ANocturnalCow212



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:40:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23357131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ANocturnalCow212/pseuds/ANocturnalCow212
Summary: Snippets of Riza and Roy's budding romance over the years in the canon timeline, starting with Riza's sixteenth birthday when Roy arrives at her party unannounced.
Relationships: Riza Hawkeye/Roy Mustang
Comments: 2
Kudos: 49





	The Closest I've Got to Home is You

Riza had been desperate for a change of pace on her sixteenth birthday, but she wasn’t sure if _this_ was what she wanted. Fearful her father would oppose a wild day out, her friends—bless their hearts—had decided to throw her a very tame and elegant ladies’ luncheon at the Hawkeye estate.

Heavy curtains were drawn aside. Furniture in the downstairs living room was rid of its protective sheets. Streamers and balloons were strung up over the peeling wallpaper. Helena draped one of her mother’s pretty floral tablecloths over the dining table; Katherine unboxed Riza’s mother’s old china and wiped down the cutlery; and Brigitte plated the snacks and mains and desserts they’d all brought with them. Maddie arrived with the cake at a quarter to noon.

The girls were hushed in their conversation and laughter as they set up. Riza wanted to tell them it wasn’t necessary—that her father wouldn’t kick them out if they were too loud. Why, he probably hadn’t even noticed there were guests in the house. Her friends—devoted as they were to making her happy—just never understood that she didn’t fear her father as much as she felt neglected by him.

The infinite potential of alchemy, of maneuvering fire was all that mattered to him. It consumed him completely, and her along with him. His obsession was weighing on her even now as she munched on petit fours and laughed at Katherine’s imitation of their biology teacher. The swelling on her back from his last limning session had almost gone down, and she’d grown used to the sharp stings at the slightest contact. It wouldn’t be long before he called her to him again—not to ask after how she was faring, but to mark her with his research.

She had been feeling an incessant tug of late. To get away from this dreary estate, away from her friends’ pitying looks. To seek out a more fulfilling purpose than being a surface to be used as a ledger. To ruffle her father’s feathers.

To be closer to the one person who understood her best.

To be with him.

The doorbell’s ring pulled her out of her contemplative daze. The girls were too busy debating the physical merits of a new boy at school to notice. Shaking her head with a chuckle, Riza got up to answer the door.

A giant cloud of flowers waited for her on the other side. Peeking out over it was a familiar mop of razor-straight, black hair, and a pair of shrewd, deep-set eyes.

“Cadet Mustang,” Riza said evenly, praying her voice didn’t betray the beat her heart skipped. The dining room down the hallway grew deathly quiet. “You’re a long way from the academy.”

“Yes, well, I’m afraid I’ve got to be back in time for curfew.” His smile reached his eyes, crinkling their corners. Flowers shifting onto one arm, his free hand shot up to sheepishly scratch the back of his head. “And really, Riza, I lived under this roof, apprenticing for Master Hawkeye for three years. Surely you can just call me Roy.”

“Why?” She stepped aside to let him in. “You’re not my brother.”

Speechless for a blink, Roy relaxed at the girls’ not-so-muffled sniggering down the hall. “Very well, then, Miss Hawkeye. As you wish.”

“Are those for me?” Riza nudged her chin at the bouquets threatening to fall out of his arms.

“Just this one,” he teased, pulling out a single carnation stem for her. Marching past her, he announced: “The rest are for all the lovely ladies gathered here for your special day!”

“Roy!” The girls tumbled into the hallway and crowded around him. “We’ve missed having your handsome face about. My, look how strapping the academy’s made you! Aren’t haircuts mandatory in the military?”

Greeting each of them with a kiss on the cheek and a bouquet, he fished out vases from nearby showcases for flowers left over. Always of a lean build, and a sharp dresser thanks to Madame Christmas, his newly defined arms and shoulders filled out his civilian dress shirt nicely. His grey waistcoat accentuated the difference between his wide shoulders and trim waist, and his tailored pants, though slack down the length, were just snug enough around his firm, rounded posterior.

Stealing the occasional glance at Riza, he worked his charm on the girls. She didn’t mind not being the center of attention. Her friends were off limits. She’d made that very clear when he’d started as her father’s apprentice.

But the girls at Central? They weren’t off limits. Riza’s admiring smile faltered as a sharp pang prodded her chest. How many girls had he been with since he joined the Academy? She’d visited Madame Christmas’s establishment once, and the women who worked there were stunning. Had he been with any of them? Did he have a serious girlfriend?

Roy fixed his shrewd gaze on her, concern flashing across his face. How did he do that? It was like he could hear everything she was thinking. Resuming his usual genial demeanor, he said, “Ladies, I’ll be excusing myself now.”

 _No._ Riza stiffened. He’d misunderstood.

“Oh Roy, but you just got here!” Brigitte tugged at his rolled up sleeve. “We really have missed seeing you around.”

“I don’t doubt it, my dear, but I plan on taking the State Alchemists’ exam soon, and I’m going to need all help Master Hawkeye’s willing to give me.”

Riza shivered at the phantom prick of her father’s needle on her back. _Stay_ , she wanted to say, _All the answers you want are with me._ But her father had forbidden her from speaking a word of his latest endeavor to anyone else. There was a time he might have trusted Roy with his findings, but Roy’s decision to join the military had changed that.

Roy flashed her one of his assuring grins as he reached for the plates. “Has Master Hawkeye had lunch?”

Riza shook her head.

Loading two plates with food, Roy headed upstairs. “If you need a hand lighting candles,” he called over his shoulder, “I’m only a call away.”

“That won’t be necessary, Cadet,” Riza said, matter-of-factly. “We can’t sit here till my next birthday while you draw your transmutation circle.”

Roy stomped up the stairs, indignation racking his frame. “I wouldn’t take so long if your father would just tell me what I need to know,” he grumbled.

“I didn’t think it was possible,” Katherine said once he was out of earshot, “but he’s gotten even dreamier.”

Riza chewed on her quiche nonchalantly.

“Did you get a look at those forearms?” Maddie asked, clawing at the edge of the table.

“Really Riza, I don’t know how you stayed so chaste living under the same roof as him,” Helena admonished. “I would have pounced on him whenever I got the chance.”

Riza shrugged. “We did wrestle every now and then.”

Four pairs of bewildered eyes blinked at her.

“He needed to pass the military’s fitness prerequisites. Wrestling helps build strength and endurance.”

Pin-drop silence. Followed by uproarious laughter which rattled the decaying floorboards. Riza couldn’t help but join in.

This. This was what the birthday she’d wanted.

***

Roy returned downstairs by popular demand, gracing them with his presence through the cutting and eating of Riza’s cake and a game of Blind Man’s Bluff. As the party wound down, he accompanied Riza in seeing the girls out. Riza heard a chuckle catch in his throat as he caught Helena wiggling her eyebrows at her suggestively.

The two of them let out a deep, relieved breath as the last of the girls left.

“Did you get what you needed? From Father, I mean.”

Roy waved his hand with a scoff. “I knew he wasn’t going to give me anything.”

“Oh.” Riza’s head jerked back. “But then…why come all the way here?”

“Why, Miss Hawkeye, I thought you knew,” he said, eyes twinkling with mischief. “You know how much I love doing dishes! There isn’t much scope for it at the dormitory.”

“You’re impossible.” Climbing down the porch steps, she made for the estate’s fence. “Come on. The dishes can wait a while. I need some fresh air.”

Patting down his breast and pant pockets, Roy craned his neck over his shoulder, looking for something. “You go on ahead. I’ll be with you in a bit.”

Riza cut across the unkempt lawn to a narrow gate that opened out to a meadow, and the woods beyond it. Closing her eyes, she relished the cool wind against her face, sweeping through her cropped blonde hair. She and Roy had spent countless afternoons exploring the seemingly unending grounds outside the Hawkeye estate. He had such a kind heart, indulging a lonely child as he’d done, when he could have been fooling around with any number of girlfriends. The memories she had of him were all that kept her from running away. She could never repay him for his compassion, but she could try paying it forward to her father. 

“Hey,” Roy said, catching up with her. “Happy birthday.”

He handed her a present, clumsily wrapped because of its odd shape.

“You shouldn’t have,” Riza said out of habit, though her heart bloomed with delight. Her brows drew together as she tore the paper off. It was a skewed V-shaped object, not entirely blunted around the edges.

“It’s a boomerang,” he explained, droplets of sweat forming over his brow. “Throw it and it’ll come right back to you. Good for knocking things out from a distance. I thought it’d be better than getting you another hunting rifle.”

“Hmm.” Riza studied it fastidiously, testing its weight in her grip; priming it over her dominant, then non-dominant shoulder. “How exactly are you meant to shoot it?”

Planting her feet, she twisted her torso and flicked the weapon at her target from an angle. Whizzing across the meadow, it disappeared into the spreading darkness. The steady drone of crickets’ chirps grew louder as they waited for it to return.

“I thought you said it comes back.”

“Well, I’m no expert on boomerangs!” Roy’s voice became shrill. “That’s just what the saleswoman told me!” Groaning in resignation, he strode ahead of her. “Hold on, you might’ve thrown it into a bush or something.”

He’d not taken five steps when Riza heard a sloppy _thump_ , and he came to an abrupt halt.

“OW!” He howled, doubling over. 

Rushing to his side, Riza looked from the boomerang at his feet to his hands cupping his blood-spattered nose.

Back at the house, she had him lie down on the chaise lounge in the living room, and ordered him to rest his head back on the high armrest while she tended to him. “Nothing seems to be broken,” she said, examining his nasal bone. “And look, you’ve already stopped bleeding.”

A serene look came over Roy’s face as he watched her sponge his face clean. Riza tried her best to stave off the blush creeping up her neck. But when his fingers ghosted up the forearm cleaning him, and circled around her wrist, she didn’t stand a chance.

“Riza?” His voice was quiet and gravelly. His other hand found the small of her back.

“Roy,” she answered, drawing circles on his cheek with her thumb.

He grinned. “I’m really glad I’m not your brother.”

Lips quirking up, Riza lowered her head to his. “Me too.”

He met her halfway, cradling the back of her head. They were tentative at first, his kisses. Mere pecks he didn’t dare prolong. Riza was the one to hunker down, her caressing fingers imploring his jaw to relax. His answer—a guttural sigh—stirred an unfamiliar warmth in her stomach. He drew her down with him as he sank back against the armrest, clumsily molding his lips to hers, sucking in sharp breaths between kisses, growing frantic and demanding more by the second.

Riza met him stroke for stroke, restrained gasps and moans tumbling from her lips as she maneuvered her head to feel closer to him. When she felt his tongue, she opened herself up to him. She nuzzled her nose with his and chuckled at his momentary shock, then poured even more laughter into their explorations as their teeth scraped one another.

She was on top of him before long, straddling his hips, safe in his reliable arms. She whimpered in elation as he kissed a line along her jaw and down her throat. Her hips involuntarily ground against his stomach, causing his head to fall back in torturous bliss. Riza was having none of that. It was her birthday, and Roy Mustang was going to keep kissing her until she ordered him to stop.

Their kissing resumed with greater fervor. Having lost what little control she had over her hips, Riza’s hands began roving the expanse of Roy’s granite chest. Trembling fingers made it impossible to unbutton his shirt. She bit his bottom lip in frustration, and he kneaded her butt hard in chastisement.

How silly she’d been. Wasting all those years just wrestling, when she could have been doing this. The thought made her smile against his attentions. 

A faraway tinkling bell made her still. Its persistence cleared the wanton haze she’d submerged herself in.

“What is it?” Roy rasped, holding him to her protectively.

“Riza!”

The two of them leapt apart, making quick work of righting their appearances.

“Yes, father?” Riza called, trying to steady her breaths.

“I’ll be adding to my notes tonight.” Her father’s faint, caustic voice travelled down the stairs. “Sterilize the equipment and bring them up.”

Riza’s nostrils flared. Locking her jaw to her keep her mounting anger at bay, she called, “Does it have to be tonight?”

“No time to waste. There’s still a long ways to go.”

“I uh…I should get going if I’m going to make curfew,” Roy said with as much dignity as his flushed demeanor allowed.

“Right.” Bowing her heading somberly, Riza walked him to the door. “Thank you, Cadet Mustang. It meant a lot, you coming here today.”

“Mustang?” Her father’s voice croaked upstairs. “What’re you still doing here?”

“Goodnight Master Hawkeye,” Roy called, barely concealing his disdain. He flashed Riza a resigned smile. “And happy birthday, Miss Hawkeye.”

He seemed to want to say more, perhaps even lean in for another clandestine kiss. But a polite nod was all he gave her before strolling into the night, out of sight.


End file.
